It's the midst of peak cruising season, and millions of travelers are eagerly embarking on exotic vacations without thinking they could ever fall victim to a crime at sea.
A cruise ship resumed its voyage to Cozumel, Mexico, on Tuesday after the Coast Guard released it from the search for a 50-year-old woman believed to have fallen overboard late Monday.
As the summer flying season begins, some analysts are getting bullish on airlines with healthy balance sheets like Continental Airlines. Jet fuel prices have declined by more than half from the same time last year -- when the company lost $585 million -- and some say the 51% drop in its stock this year is an overcorrection.
The round-trip airfare from Brussels to New York on the European online travel site eDreams was 337 Euros -- until Alisa Schlossberg clicked on the "buy" button. Then it jumped to 592 Euros, creating an eNightmare.
With Wi-Fi access at airports, hotels, and aboard airplanes, business travelers don't have to look very hard for a wireless Internet connection.
Like many Nepalese guides, Apa Sherpa started trekking to the top of Mount Everest in the shadow of more famous climbers -- including the son of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb to the top of the world's tallest peak.
Cindy Goodman was having dinner with a group of girlfriends one night when the conversation took a surprising turn.
If you've got to be there for work anyway, why not live it up?
Cruising isn't what it used to be. Just ask Steve Roberts, who recently sailed from Costa Maya, Mexico, to Nassau, Bahamas on the Carnival Glory.
A year ago, employees at Boiron, a medical manufacturing company, wined and dined at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort overlooking the picturesque bay in Rose Hall, Jamaica, for their annual retreat.
It's the midst of peak cruising season, and millions of travelers are eagerly embarking on exotic vacations without thinking they could ever fall victim to a crime at sea.
A cruise ship resumed its voyage to Cozumel, Mexico, on Tuesday after the Coast Guard released it from the search for a 50-year-old woman believed to have fallen overboard late Monday.
As the summer flying season begins, some analysts are getting bullish on airlines with healthy balance sheets like Continental Airlines. Jet fuel prices have declined by more than half from the same time last year -- when the company lost $585 million -- and some say the 51% drop in its stock this year is an overcorrection.
The round-trip airfare from Brussels to New York on the European online travel site eDreams was 337 Euros -- until Alisa Schlossberg clicked on the "buy" button. Then it jumped to 592 Euros, creating an eNightmare.
With Wi-Fi access at airports, hotels, and aboard airplanes, business travelers don't have to look very hard for a wireless Internet connection.
Like many Nepalese guides, Apa Sherpa started trekking to the top of Mount Everest in the shadow of more famous climbers -- including the son of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb to the top of the world's tallest peak.
Cindy Goodman was having dinner with a group of girlfriends one night when the conversation took a surprising turn.
If you've got to be there for work anyway, why not live it up?
Cruising isn't what it used to be. Just ask Steve Roberts, who recently sailed from Costa Maya, Mexico, to Nassau, Bahamas on the Carnival Glory.
A year ago, employees at Boiron, a medical manufacturing company, wined and dined at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort overlooking the picturesque bay in Rose Hall, Jamaica, for their annual retreat.
With family vacation budgets tight as ever, one Georgia organization is offering an inexpensive vacation alternative that is at once economically and environmentally friendly.
In April, CNN Business Traveller examines the impact of the global economic downturn on the travel industry's efforts to go green.
Nanci Moll's travel agency goes bust without paying her hotel in the Cayman Islands. Now the resort wants her to pay for her stay -- again. Shouldn't her credit card protect her against a double billing? And what if it doesn't?
A recent "World for $1" promotion by LastMinuteTravel.com promised a room "in any of our 15,000 hotels" for $1 a night. The only catch? You had to book them during a specified 15-minute window.
The airline tickets Marianne Ellis buys for a family vacation to Tanzania are refundable with a change fee, but her online travel agent fails to tell her that the fee is about a quarter of the cost of the ticket. Now that she has to cancel, will she lose thousands of dollars?
Todd Hawkins never figured himself for a cruising kind of guy. He grew up camping and still loves long road trips. But he got married to someone whose family vacation style couldn't have been more different.
In an attempt to be frugal amid the economic downturn, Karl Stetson and his family in Seattle, Washington, planned to skip their annual trip to Hawaii.
The cruise industry's traditional peak season for promotions and bookings may be drawing to a close, but travelers ready to set sail are still in a good position for savings.
There's probably no better way of pinching your vacation pennies than sleeping on a friend's sofa or camping out. But you don't have to rough it to afford your next getaway.
Does jumping out of a plane show love? For one family in Florida it does.
Up on the Lido Deck there is a rockin' band playing another love song.
A trip to Vegas might sound like a gamble, but deep discounts make it a better bet than it's been in years.
Feeling sluggish after a few too many eggnogs and a halt to your fitness routine?
Growing up in America, Joshu Harris was captivated by the mystique, music and history of Cuba.
The Economist Intelligence Unit will publish a report -- The Austere Traveller -- in February that will show that business travelers' expectations are changing.
Our ship hadn't quite left port when I handed my teenager a present: a lovely leather-bound notebook with lined pages and a variety of colorful pens. His mission was to keep a cruise journal, a tell-all, remember-the-moments account of his days (and nights) on the high seas.
We're traveling down an uncertain road next year. Buckle up.
"Don't get speared by the shark's tooth," my kayaking guide warns. "Stay low." Then his neon green boat disappears through a small gap that separates the Pacific from a towering cliff. I follow, hesitantly.
The Coast Guard is searching for a cruise ship employee who fell overboard early Thursday off Florida's east coast.
As a rule, most travel agents are well-trained, competent professionals who work hard for you.
A 30,000-ton luxury cruise ship outran pirates off the coast of Yemen this weekend, the ship's owner said Monday.
Andy Daniel thought he had found a terrific airfare from San Francisco to Miami for Christmas. Instead, he found a terrific disappointment.
While cruise lines have drawn criticism from eco-watchdogs for years, addressing environmental issues has become one of the industry's top priorities.
No video games. No cell phones or Internet. No TV, swimming pools, souvenir shopping or even a bed. And no one's complaining. In fact, parents and kids say they don't miss any of it.
Ivy Peltz is like many people who go on tours or cruises alone: She doesn't like to room with strangers, but she also hates paying a single supplement -- the fee many travel companies levy on singles who want their own two-person room.
In March of 1997, hiker Bill Maddrell set off on a solo trip down the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a well-worn ribbon that slices through 14 states, eight national forests and six national parks from Maine to Georgia. Determined to walk the entire 2,176 miles, he took a 60-pound backpack, but his relatives thought that wasn't enough. "They asked me if I was going to carry a gun," he said.
Making donations to charity is becoming an integral part of business travel. Airlines are bringing in vast sums through onboard donation schemes that gather unwanted foreign currency from travelers. And frequent fliers are even handing over their precious air miles to charities.
A lot of business travelers come off as know-it-alls, moving effortlessly from their towncars to their first-class lounges to the front of the plane, where they're served mimosas, as they recline in their ergonomic leather seats.
Armed with a credit card, travel itinerary safely wedged between meeting notes, it's all too easy for business travelers to overlook the impact they -- and their firms' money -- can make on the countries they visit.
Here's your reward for taking a staycation this summer.
This month we examine the ethics of travel and charity. Business travelers cross continents and see cities more than most; their stays may be brief, but the business traveler still gets a sense of the core culture of the countries they visit.
Ilene Coffey's room at an Orlando hotel comes with an unexpected surprise: a $50 fee for a "short stay." When she protests, her hotel and online travel agency tell her she must pay. What's worse, she can't back out -- if she does, her credit card will be charged for the stay. Is there a way out of this mess?
Vacation season is nearly over, and kids are returning to school with the telltale tans and smiles that mean they had a wonderful and relaxing holiday.
Anita Fancon and her husband want to fly from Tucson, Arizona, to Bordeaux, France in business class. They have the miles they need, and they've already cashed them in. But do they have the seats? American Airlines says they do, except on the flight from Dallas to London. Is there anything Fancon can do to secure the seats she's already paid 180,000 miles for?
From treks in the Arctic circle to luxury "eco-lodges" in Costa Rica, there are many types of vacations and holiday companies that like to highlight just how much they care about the environment.
Four-year-old Grace Layman, decked out in full frilly flower girl regalia, excitedly led her smiling surprise guest to the separate kids' party she was hosting at her dad's wedding reception. Mickey Mouse wowed everyone -- grown-ups too.
Ecotourism represents a set of principles that have been successfully implemented in various global communities, and are supported by extensive industry and academic research. The following definition of ecotourism, established by TIES in 1990, is the most widely used and recognized definition of ecotourism: "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people" (TIES, 1990). Ecotourism is an important and growing segment of the global tourism industry that is making significant positive contributions to the environmental, social, cultural and economic well-being of destinations and local communities around the world. Furthermore, ecotourism has provided an impetus to assist in greening the tourism industry on many fronts.
Flying solo? Prepare to pay up.
Penobscot Bay may be one of the world's great cruising grounds for sailors, but you don't need a mast to fall under its watery spell. Kayakers love it, too. Ancient glaciers sculpted the big bay's granite coast, creating countless inlets and coves to explore. The setting offers snug harbor towns and inviting inns, many an easy paddle apart. Throw in the world's tastiest lobster and you have all the ingredients for a self-propelled trip that's more relaxing than taxing.
Vacation is the oasis in the midst of your occupational desert, if you will.
Two canoes were crushed running over a dam in southeastern Slovenia, killing 8 people
Eleven hundred and six steep, stone steps that never seem to end.
The 17-day games were supposed to generate a buzz throughout the summer, leading to a tourism windfall with fully booked hotels and free-spending customers. But Beijing's summer tourism season has been slow
Shortly after its opening in 2006, I decided to visit the Lodge at Woodloch, a destination spa deep in the Poconos. Upon my arrival from New York, I discovered the property had no cellular service, so I made several calls home from my room phone, expecting to fork over little more than a dollar. Imagine my surprise when my hotel bill revealed a $7.38 charge for each time I picked up the receiver, despite having never actually reached anyone.
Violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is holding back the nation's dreams of building a viable tourism industry, despite its success in neighboring Caribbean nations
ShoreTrips' business is booming, so you'd think owners Julie and Barry Karp could relax a bit. The couple developed a niche - arranging land tours for Caribbean cruise ship travelers. While cruise vessels have been disgorging hordes of passengers into ports and onto buses and walking tours for decades, their operators faced increased competition from landlubbers when the Karps founded their firm in 2001.
China is one of those places where there has long been a real appeal to being on a tour. Having expert help to organize the logistics (and a bilingual guide on the ground) takes some of the anxiety out of visiting what can be a fairly overwhelming country.
When Mike Sinyard started importing Italian bike parts in 1974, his toughest challenge was finding space to store them inside his eight- by 30-foot trailer.
When Jerry Leonard and his wife transfer from their cruise ship to a train, they give Princess their luggage, which includes a bottle of Cognac. The luggage is lost and later found, but the cruise line confiscates the Cognac. Should it replace the bottle -- or is he out of luck?
Will Allen III, a management consultant from Raleigh, North Carolina, is a platinum member on a handful of airlines, but his loyalty is waning.
Let's assume, for a moment, that you can't stop 2008 from becoming the Year of the Fee.
What's not to like -- from a kid's perspective anyway.
In 2002, at the ages of 62 and 48, Pat and Catherine Patterson decided to leave it all behind. They sold their real estate business and their cars, gave their furniture to their children, and put their home up for rent. Strapping their remaining possessions to two bicycles, the couple set off to bike around the world.
Travelers treat searching for hotel rates online like a game of roulette: try enough combinations (dates, locations, travel agencies), and you'll score the perfect one. But it's easy to forget that booking a room through an online travel agency means that if you need to change your travel dates or find a better deal, you may pay a penalty, often upward of $25. Add to this the fact that hotels don't reward loyalty points for stays reserved through discount booking sites, and that bargain-basement price doesn't look so appealing. Avoid pitfalls by following these approaches:
There are more than 160 ships in the fleets of the 24 major cruise lines and more than 7,500 itineraries, from Alaska to Zanzibar. So how do you decide which one most suits your style? Follow these 10 steps to ensure smooth sailing:
First it was the airlines, now it's the turn of hotels to take the budget concept into the mainstream. Demand is surging for cheaper hotel rooms, not just from thrifty tourists but also from business travelers in search of value. And budget brands are responding to the demand with ambitious expansion plans.
The North African country with the fastest growth rate in tourism sent out a clear message that its own private sector will now play a more prominent role in developing its all-important travel industry, indicating that it is ready to use expertise acquired over several decades of steady growth to spearhead new initiatives that would put a large number of unknown sub-Saharan countries on the map.
Thinking of taking a cruise? Then you picked the right time -- and you're reading the right story.
Happy family cruises are all alike because they allow parents and kids to each be happy in his or her own way. A parent of a toddler, for instance, might be happiest with a cruise that provides trustworthy child-care services at flexible hours. Children, of course, have their own priorities. A teen, say, will probably want lots of activities for socializing after 10 P.M.
It has been a year of promising news for the globe-trotting business traveler. Yes, there have been all the woes of increased airport security, packed planes, heaving hotels and bursting business-class lounges, but some of the headlines have brought encouragement for a better future.
How do you make a good travel experience out of a business trip? There may be times when quick and efficient transfers and check-ins are what is most important from a excursion, but with the holiday season almost upon us, even the most hardened road warriors will be forgiven for thinking more about winding down for the year than business.
It's increasingly popular--and surprisingly affordable--to set sail with the kids in tow. Find out ways to save when planning, booking, and cruising.
His mother is scheduled to fly to Hawaii with his aunt and cousin, where they plan to board a cruise. But hours before they leave, Lawrence Dean Parrish finds out that their flight schedules have been changed. Now his mother, who is 74 and suffers from glaucoma, is flying solo and his aunt and cousin are on another flight. Neither the travel agency nor the cruise line will help. Is her vacation sunk?
The airplane has become, for many, climate change public enemy number one. And for good reason, say environmentalists. The air travel sector now carries the label of "the world's fastest growing source of greenhouse gases" according to Friends of the Earth (FoE), with airplanes pumping out more than 600 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. That's nearly as much CO2 as the African continent annually expels.
Tropical Storm Noel, which has killed at least 48 people, was moving away from the Cuban coast late Wednesday and strengthening over warm waters, prompting tropical storm watches to be issued for South Florida.
Tropical Storm Noel weakened Tuesday over most of Cuba after lashing the island's northern coast, but heavy rains continued to deluge the Dominican Republic, Haiti and portions of the Bahamas, forecasters said.
The $90 Targus Corporate Traveler means serious business. The ballistic-nylon, briefcase-style case looks ready to survive the bumps and knocks of even the most aggressive travel schedule, which isn't to say that the bag is all utility with no style.
For older men who know the difference between a waltz and fox-trot, being a cruise ship host offers evenings in the dance floor spotlight and days in the ocean sunlight traveling to places they would have never seen otherwise.
Travel is the world's biggest business and one of its fastest-growing too. But hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise lines have been slow to grapple with the huge environmental and social consequences of what they do.
Squeezing regular workouts in between client meetings and business dinners can be a challenge, especially when you're operating out of a hotel in an unfamiliar city.
Gena Welsh and her husband each receive a $150 certificate when their flight is delayed. But now the company that gave them the voucher -- TransGlobal Vacations -- has become Funjet Vacations. And it's balking at giving them the credit. What should she do?
SINGAPORE AIRLINES' A380 AUCTION
SINGAPORE AIRLINES' A380 AUCTION
You press your body tightly against the rock, fingers running along its crevices, trying to keep from slipping.
The negotiations are over. The treaty has been signed. The skies across the Atlantic are now open for free movement of flights between European and U.S. cities. Now the battle commences between airlines as they prepare for their new-found commercial freedom when the Open Skies agreement comes into action in March 2008.
July and August tend to be sleepy months on Wall Street as traders ditch their terminals and head for a beach house in the Hamptons or a summer resort on Nantucket.
Next time you visit the Big Island, why not skip the fancy resort and hop in a VW camper van?
After months without a day off, it's official: You need a vacation.
So summer's here, and the thermometer has consistently hovered at 80°-plus. You've got one thing and one thing only on your mind, and it's not the Hickenlooper report, which was due last week: You want to get straight out of the office and take a vacation.
Rescue authorities reported all five people aboard a small sightseeing plane were killed when it crashed in a mountainous area of southeast Alaska on Tuesday, a Princess Cruises spokeswoman said.
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Essay: When resorts are tailored to comfort tourists by offering familiar experiences, it can be hard to remember just where you are
It's never going to happen to you, right?
I've been on my share of vacations with friends and extended family and survived the most common pitfalls - like people running up the group tab at dinner with expensive wines, planned activities that I wanted no part of and living arrangements that afforded too little privacy.
ANNE SCHUETTE, SADLY, WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN HER mother Dorothy died in 2003 after years of battling cancer. But discovering that her mother had left her and her two siblings $400,000 each was a shock. "I had no idea she had that much money," says Anne, 48, who described the revelation as "bittersweet."
I've been on my share of vacations with friends and extended family and survived the most common pitfalls—like people running up the group tab at dinner with expensive wines, planned activities that I wanted no part of and living arrangements that afforded too little privacy. The topper for me was the time a vacation mate I didn't know well but had invited as part of a large group got nailed cheating in a card game with my better friends. I was stuck between their cold shoulders and my misbegotten guest for the rest of week.
When Delta Air Lines cancels the return portion of Sara Grimm's Puerto Rico getaway, Travelocity's fix is to refund her first vacation package and then ask her to book a completely new one. She does, but weeks later, there's no sign of the money she spent on the first trip. Should Grimm dispute the charges with her credit card -- or is there a better way?
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